Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

It took losing yet another series to the rival Baltimore Orioles, but the Yankees avoided the sweep and finally clinched the AL East with a 10-1 victory on Thursday evening.

Gerrit Cole tossed 6.2 shutout innings with five strikeouts, and Giancarlo Stanton led the way with a home run and four total RBI. Team captain and likely MVP Aaron Judge also added his MLB-leaded 58th home run of the season.

The Yankees can now breathe easy. They have secured a first round bye and only have a weekend series with the Pittsburgh Pirates remaining. They’ll begin the ALDS on Saturday as either the first or second seed in the American League.

As things currently stand, New York holds a one-game lead over the Cleveland Guardians for the top spot. Given how this series finale against Baltimore played out, the Bronx Bombers should have plenty of momentum.

It was clear from the first pitch that the Yankees were locked in. Cole retired the side on 13 pitches and didn’t even allow a hit until the fifth inning. In the second, Stanton crushed a solo shot to give the team a 1-0 lead.

New York rode the gauntlet from then until the sixth inning, when Cole fanned Anthony Santander to leave the tying run stranded. Baltimore also made an interesting choice here, pulling ace Corbin Burnes after just 69 pitches in five innings.

Yennier Cano loaded the bases, Cionel Perez walked Austin Wells to make it 2-0, and then Stanton made him pay again. A booming double off the wall made it 5-0, and the Yankees never looked back. Judge’s homer was just the cherry on top.

Now, it’s time to rest easy, pop some bottles, and prepare for October.

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Josh Benjamin
Josh Benjamin has been a staff writer at ESNY since 2018. He has had opinions about everything, especially the Yankees and Knicks. He co-hosts the “Bleacher Creatures” podcast and is always looking for new pieces of sports history to uncover, usually with a Yankee Tavern chicken parm sub in hand.

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